noun

• An unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme.

  ‘free trade in international aviation will remain a pipe dream’

  More example sentences

  • ‘We deserve a system where clean, sustainable energy is something more than a pipe dream for delusional hippies.’
  • ‘If they stayed loyal to the ARL, super-league would have remained a pipe dream.’
  • ‘So it would be a pipe dream to expect the council to grass it over (although that would look lovely).’
  • ‘As long as remunerative prices for crops remain a pipe dream those on the edge will take the ultimate step.’
  • ‘Until that changes, and people at the grassroots are given a real voice, the goal of sustainable development will remain a pipe dream.’
  • ‘Though I know it's a pipe dream, I still fantasize about being a rock star.’
  • ‘But without a clear conception of the political means required to stop war, this slogan remains just a pipe dream.’
  • ‘Unless these problems can be worked out, peace and friendship between the two countries will remain something of a pipe dream.’
  • ‘It's a pipe dream that it's going to be what we had hoped a year ago.’
  • ‘Eisenhower chose the broad front and, by spreading Allied troops too thinly, he turned hope of an early victory into a pipe dream.’
  • ‘But making music was still a pipe dream for MacInnes.’
  • ‘As one of the arguments against implementing the protocol, it was argued that ‘sustainability’ is a pipe dream.’
  • ‘The pipe dream at the end of it all is to actually set up a clinic in the UK, which would be just fantastic.’
  • ‘But for more and more renters, particularly young city dwellers, the great Australian dream is becoming a pipe dream.’
  • ‘Honorable intentions indeed, but looks like a pipe dream.’
  • ‘Sounds like a pipe dream - but are you going to tell her to back off?’
  • ‘Any U.S. thought of winning the Cold War was a pipe dream.’
  • ‘‘We have shown that renewable hydrogen is not a pipe dream,’ says Macaulay.’
  • ‘Now the last of these three objectives was obviously a pipe dream.’
  • ‘But the idea that special interests could be kept at bay was a pipe dream.’

  Synonyms

  fantasy, false hope, illusion, delusion, daydream, unrealizable dream, reverie, mirage, castle in the air, castle in Spain, chimera

  View synonyms